Hi all, just had a thought that we haven’t been up the Whangie for a while, and this time of year is great for some evening views down over Loch Lomond (it’s bound to be cloudy now). I’m happy to lead a hosted ride up there next Wednesday (8th June) if anyone fancies it. It’s around a 28 km loop with about 450 m of climbing. Leaving from behind Jaw Brew at 7pm.
Cheers
Ian
The GMBC 2022 jerseys are now available to order in either XC or Enduro style. Short sleeved jerseys are priced at £40 and long at £42. Plus if you sign up as a member for 2022 (details to follow shortly), you’ll be entitled to £10 off (per person). Place your orders before December 20th using the link below. We’ve got GMBC buffs too available for £8.
https://webcollect.org.uk/gmbc/event/gmbc-2022-jersey-orders
It’s that time of year again, and the 2021 AGM is to be held at our new home, Jaw Brew in Milngavie on Wednesday 24th November. We’ve seen lots of new faces this year which has been great, so we’ll hopefully get to see you at the AGM too when we play that annual game of “what do people look like without glasses and a helmet”.
Papers will be sent out to members later in the week but pop the date in your diary – 7-9 pm Wednesday 24th Nov
The Jaw Brew Pub in Milngavie is next to the railway station if you havent made it there yet
Jaw Brew | Scottish Craft Beer Brewery in Glasgow
There’s parking around the back (26 Crossveggate, G62 6RA)
Some good news for you this week, we’ve secured a new club house/meeting point.
From 10th November, we’ll be meeting at Jaw Brew Pub in Milngavie next to the railway station on a Wednesday evening.
Jaw Brew | Scottish Craft Beer Brewery in Glasgow
There’s parking around the back (26 Crossveggate, G62 6RA) and as well as outdoor and indoor seating, and a place to have a pint or a coffee post ride, Mark at Jaw Brew has kindly provided us with facilities to wash bikes post Wednesday night rides, so no more packing dirty bikes onto cars.
Looking forward to seeing you all there. We’ll kick this off with a “Bike and a Pint” event on Wednesday 10th November when we hope to do a 2 hour ride around Mugdock, followed by a drink at the pub. See you then.
What Three Words location:
We’ve added details of the club’s September hosted ride out to Glengoyne and back on the events diary. Get you lights charged.
http://www.gmbc.org.uk/event/septembers-hosted-club-ride-glengoyne-loop/
Hi all, we hope you’ve enjoyed the variety of club rides we’ve organised to get back into group rides over the last 6 weeks. The plan moving forward will be to run one of these club rides on the first Wednesday of each month,then for the other weeks of the month we’ll encourage members to meet up for rides at 7pm on a Wed and post up on the Facebook members page any other rides they’ve planned (weekends/other evenings). Info on the 2nd June ride can be found below
To get you back into the spirit of group rides there will be another couple of hosted rides exploring the local trails heading out at 7pm on Wednesday evening over the coming weeks.
Next week (12th May) – Tom and Bosco will be out with a group around some more of Mugdock’s singletrack
GMBC Wednesday Evening Ride – Milngavie – Wed 12th May – Glasgow Mountain Bike Club
The week after (19th May) – Ian will be heading out with a group hoping it’s a clear evening for a decent view
Roam with a view – A Wednesday night ride (7pm depart) – Glasgow Mountain Bike Club (gmbc.org.uk)
Due to COVID-19 Track and Trace restrictions, please sign up in advance if you want to join either of these rides
Last weekend I made my annual trip to the frozen North to once again compete in the Strathpuffer 24. What usually awaits is 17 hours of darkness and conditions which vary every year from wet, to mud, to snow, to ice; but what’s always guaranteed is that it’ll be a challenge. This year I was once again competing in the pairs with my pal Liam, our goal was to get in 24 laps of the course in, and mine was to beat my previous PR of 12 laps.
In the queue waiting to get access to the forest at Strathpeffer we met up with the rest of the GMBC contingent, namely a quad made of Julie and Bosco along with Steven Owens and Campbell Davidson. Camps were set up on the fire road into the forest and we settled in for the night with a few beers and plenty of food.
Photo by Gary Williamson
Photo by Gary Williamson
The race itself started at 10am in freezing fog, but climbing on the first lap took you up and out and into the sunshine. The ground was hard and lap times were pretty quick, the downhill finish had also been resurfaced since last year so the misery of pedalling through 8” deep mud to complete each lap had also gone. Conditions remained like this for most of the day as we completed lap after lap. Once darkness fell though, so did the temperature (it got down to between -4 and -6 oC) and ice started appearing everywhere. After an impromptu visit into a tree and a moment on a fast decent where my back wheel overtook my front I decided to slow down and take things easier, I needed to finish this in one piece! Everything froze, water bottles, legs, fingers, gears, and the most valuable tool I used was a rubber mallet to bang the extra kilos of ice off the bike. Keeping the bike in working order was difficult but Keith McLellan had given me a tip last year to clean and lube the drivetrain and clean the pads as often as possible, this worked a treat although water just froze as soon as it hit the bike.
Keeping going through the night is always a tough one but passing the GMBC quads pit/camp each time they always encouraged us on. It was pretty clear they were in a close race and challenging for the podium.
Photo by Ronan Dugan
Morning arrived and we got to see what we’d been cycling through all night, the sheet ice became a bit more visible as was the finish. At 1025 Liam came around the last set of bends to complete our pair’s 25th lap, we’d completed our goal and I’d churned out 14 laps too; we’d finished 20th out of 84 pairs, not bad for a couple of old blokes. Also at the finish were Julie, Steven, Campbell and Bosco who’d just finished, winning the Mixed Quads by half an hour after each completing 8 laps for a fantastic total of 32 laps, well done guys!
Packing up and getting home is probably the hardest part, but a few coffee and food stops along the way down the A9 at Newtonmore and Perth got us back in one piece. The washing and bike maintenance can wait for another day. Thanks to everyone involved in the organisation, the marshal’s who braved the cold for the whole race and our fellow competitors who kept us all company through the night.
Words: Ian Godber Photos: Gary Williamson, Ronan Dugan, Ian Godber
